Shepard's candidacy questioned

Tuesday

Mar 4, 2014 at 2:00 AM

HAMPTON — In the wake of Andrea Shepard's candidacy for Hampton School Board, a number of rumors have surfaced that the former Hampton Academy assistant principal may be running to seek some sort of retaliation against the individuals who placed her on administrative leave last year.

Kyle Stucker

HAMPTON — In the wake of Andrea Shepard's candidacy for Hampton School Board, a number of rumors have surfaced that the former Hampton Academy assistant principal may be running to seek some sort of retaliation against the individuals who placed her on administrative leave last year.

Statements on the Rational Taxpayers of Hampton's Web site and in their annual "Yellow Sheet" voting guide, which published last week, also refer to public uncertainty about Shepard's motives and a lack of transparency for Shepard's leave as grounds for why the group is recommending voters elect Shepard's opponent, Barbara Lawless.

Shepard, who retired in June shortly after she was placed on leave for an undisclosed personnel matter, told the Hampton Union on Monday that her candidacy has nothing to do with getting even or ousting individuals who lobbied for her removal.

"Absolutely not," said Shepard. "Absolutely emphatically not. I'm just trying to find another way to continue to help the kids."

Shepard retired in June after a period of administrative leave.

School Administrative Unit 90 Superintendent Kathleen Murphy and Shepard have said they can't disclose details of the separation agreement signed by both sides, and Shepard declined to go into additional details Monday because it's "in the past" and because she is attempting to "move forward" and focus solely on doing "the best" she can for Hampton's students, school staff and taxpayers.

"I don't have much time or energy for people who are going to be negative," said Shepard, referring to the Rational Taxpayers of Hampton's claims. "It's not who I am.

"The past is done. Life's too short. I don't have the energy for it. I want to put all of my energy into the schools, the kids and the families of Hampton."

A message posted on the Rational Taxpayers of Hampton's Web site by spokesman Norm Silberdick states that the group was "shocked" that Shepard is running after she was "terminated," which is a term Murphy has previously characterized as an incorrect representation of the situation.

Silberdick, whose son is married to Lawless' daughter, also described Shepard as not being a "meaningful candidate."

Art Gopalan, whose term on the Hampton School Board ends on election day on March 11, has also publicly been skeptical of Shepard's candidacy, outlining in a recent letter to the editor that the administrative leave casts a "black cloud" over her candidacy.

Gopalan wrote that he believes Shepard should disclose what led to her leave, and that the board is "no place" for her if the reason for it "involved" a student. Gopalan said in an interview Monday that his questions and skepticism has "nothing to do with a sinister motive," but rather that he and other taxpayers are "entitled to know what exactly happened" because she wants to serve in an elected office funded by tax dollars.

"That's all I'm asking," said Gopalan. "I'm not implying anything is wrong. I'm asking her to come clean.

"I'm not implying anything at all that she isn't for the kids and so forth. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with a very, very narrow issue that came up."

Many residents have taken to social media in support of Shepard's candidacy, and many have labeled the Yellow Sheet's claims as misleading. Residents have portrayed Shepard as a "beloved" and "dedicated" individual who could bring valuable experience and insight to the Hampton School Board because of her intimate knowledge of the district, its systems and its students' needs.

"As a teacher, administrator, parent, grandparent, and community member, she always had, and has, every child's best interests at heart every day," wrote Frank DeLuca, a self-described "concerned Hampton taxpayer and advocate of quality education."

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